Dear Lifehacker,
I'm trying to save money by bringing my lunch to work, but I'm already sick of the same old sandwiches. Is there something I can do to get out of this lunch rut and make brown bagging actually work for me?

Signed,
Bored with Brown Bagging

Dear Bored,
Packing your own lunch is a smart move—you save money and often eat healthier than you would if you got takeout or dined out every workday meal. However, as you've quickly discovered, the routine can get awfully boring.

We've previously discussed lots of ways to make brown bagging more appealing in general. In addition to jazzing up your lunches, let's look at how to turn brown bagging into a habit you might actually enjoy.

Rethink Your Notion of the Homemade Lunch

Homemade lunches don't have to be the bland, purely practical stuff of childhood lunchboxes (peanut butter and jelly again?). They can be gourmet creations or simply elevated sandwiches, salads, and more. By using the best ingredients and adding a variety of flavors and textures to your lunch, you can come up with a meal that's more satisfying than anything you might buy outside.

Think of it as a creative challenge—one you get to fully enjoy at lunchtime. Here are a few ideas:

Break out of the sandwich mold

Adding more variety to your lunches is easier if you think beyond the two-slices-of-bread-and-some-filling template. Think ethnic options (burritos and wraps you can make and freeze yourself, chicken satay, Mediterranean pita pockets, etc.), picnic-y foods (e.g., chicken drumsticks and crackers and cheese), or salad variations (such as orzo, quinoa, or pasta salads).

Make a feast for your eyes

Eating is a visual act too, so consider presentation.

Bento box lunches encourage variety and also help with portion control. You don't have to make cute cutouts or cook Japanese food to follow the principles of the bento (if you don't want to). As NPR explains, the five main elements of bento are color, texture, seasonality, presentation, and nutrition. It doesn't have to be complicated, though: Think of naturally hand-held foods, such as mini vegetables and cheese sticks. (NPR's suggestion to turn a wrap into a colorful pinwheel by slicing it sideways is pretty clever.) See Just Bento for a ton of inspiring recipes, pictures, and even a bento meal planner.

You don't have to get a compartmentalized lunch container, but they are attractive. We like both bento boxes and tiffin carrier lunchboxes. Just get a container that makes you happy.

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Overcome Common Brown-Bagging Hurdles

Beyond the difficulty deciding what to make for lunch, you might also face a number of obstacles.

Don't feel like you have enough time to make lunch?Plan to have leftovers and make them for your lunch (e.g., roast a chicken for dinner and slice up some for tomorrow). You can also prepare your lunches in bulk ahead of time (e.g., with a salad in a jar that stays fresh for days).

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Need more ideas? Cheap Healthy Good has rounded up an extensive list of links to lunch ideas from sites like The Simple Dollar, Chow, and Serious Eats. That, coupled with any of the many recipe discovery apps (e.g., Punchfork or Gojee), should be enough to keep you from having to eat the same thing twice all year.